The Fault in Our Star
by thehornedserpent
Summary: A collection of one-shots with Starco drama that will probably make you cry. ;)
1. Rejection

"Marco, this is eating me up. I was talking to Glossaryck, and he said this is the only way. And… he's right. It's just… Ihaveacrushonyou!"

"What?!"

She slowed down, taking it word by word. "I know we're great friends, and I don't want to mess that up. But… I want to be something more than that, Marco. I know you have a girlfriend, and that's why it gets so hard. The thing is that, no matter how much I try to deny it, I love you more than anything in the world."

She reached out for a hug, but Marco pushed her away. "I love you, too, Star. But not in that way."

Star just stood there with a shocked look on her face, staring at Marco in disbelief. "You… you hate me."

"No, Star, I don't." She just stared. "Star, I… I need to go. Somewhere else." He rushed over to the stairs. When he was halfway up, he hesitated, looking back at Star. But Star didn't see him; she was staring at the empty space where Marco once was. Seeing the empty space in the room and feeling the empty space in her heart. Finally deciding, Marco rushed up the rest of the stairs and into his bedroom, slamming the door. Isolated, he started to think about what just happened. Was he too harsh with her? He had been quite abrupt. He tried to put himself in her place. As he pondered, a thought surfaced in his mind: _Do I like Star?_ Maybe. Maybe he did a bit. Not enough to break up with Jackie, but if the relationship didn't turn out (and there was a good chance it wouldn't), then he would always have Star there, and maybe something could happen.

Meanwhile, Star finally broke out of her trance. _So this is what rejection feels like,_ was the first thing she thought. But she had to think about what was best Marco, not herself, if she truly cared about him. And Glossaryck was right. The bad magic was only going to get worse if she stayed here. She didn't want to hurt anyone, especially Marco. And maybe her parents could help her with the bad magic. She had to leave Earth. Maybe not forever, but at least until the bad magic went away. But she should leave a note.

She wrote one and left it on the counter. She said that she would be back soon, but she didn't know if that was true or not.

She walked up the stairs to her room. She gathered the book of spells and her dimensional scissors. There was one last thing that she needed. She reached out to grab her wand. As soon as she touched it, the dull sadness turned to extreme anguish.

Marco walked out of his room, resolving to make up with Star. He approached her room and knocked on the door.

Inside, Star lost control of the wand. A powerful blast of green magic exploded from it.

When the Diaz parents arrived home, they found nothing but scorched ground and two charred skeletons.


	2. Loss

**One quick note: I will not answer reviews for this story in each chapter since it is a one-shot collection. Rather, I will answer questions via PM. Enjoy the following Starco!**

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"Angie, is this you?"

"Yes. And who may you be?"

"Do you not recognize my voice?"

"Sorry, the phone distorts your voice."

"Oh, then. I am Queen Moon. I don't quite understand how these…'cell phones' of Earth work."

"Oh, Moon! Is this about Star?

"Not exactly. I just need to tell you… Mewni is under attack. If I don't contact with you within three days, tell Star that we are gone. And be sure not to let her try to come and help. For her own safety. And if we do die… do the same thing for her that you did for Marco."

"Could you possibly… forget to contact us? Should we not assume the worst if we don't hear from you?"

Moon's voice was cold. "Angie, I will not forget. If you don't hear from us… we are dead. There is no other possibility."

"O-okay. But this is just precautionary, right? You don't think you're actually going to die."

"It's more likely that we will than we won't."

Angie didn't know what to say. Eventually, Moon ended the call. _It's alright; the call will come. They'll tell us they're alright. We just have to wait._

The call never came. A week, a month passed before Angie gave up. On a Saturday morning, she came into Star's room and sat on her bed. Star woke at the sound of it.

"Once you're all woken up, I have something to talk to you about. Take a minute, tell me when you're ready," Angie said.

Rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes, Star pulled herself out from under the covers and sat up. Once the grogginess faded, Star prompted, "So… what is it?"

"A month ago… your parents called me to say that Mewni was under attack—"

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped!"

"They specifically asked me not to tell you. They wanted to protect you—"

"I can protect myself!" protested Star.

"This wasn't my decision, Star."

"Yes, sorry Mrs. Diaz."

"Well, they told me they'd call if they survived. And… they haven't called."

"Maybe they forgot?"

"Star, as much as I hate to say it… you know your mother."

"Yeah, she'd never forget something like that." Star still wore a smile upon her face.

"Um… Star, sweetie, you do know what this means, right?"

"Um, no. Wait…." Her face instantly fell. "Wait, they're… they're… DEAD?!"

"Sweetie, they're up in heaven."

Star raised an eyebrow. "What is this he-vin thingy?"

"Oh, sorry, you must have different Mewnian religions. They're… gone. In the next life."

"No… no, no, nononononono! This can't be true! Mom's magical and strong and… she couldn't have possibly gotten killed, right? And she must've saved Dad!"

Angie's eyes wandered the room, settling on the dimensional scissors in Star's dresser. "Why don't you go see for yourself? Then maybe we'll find out that we're wrong."

"Yes… yes, I'll do that." Numbly, Star opened a portal and stepped through it. Instantly before her eyes was a smoking half of a castle. On either side of her, streets were trashed, the houses burnt and mangled. The only prominent thing left undamaged was a good portion of the corn fields. In it lurked a familiar frog.

"Buff Frog!"

He jumped out of fright then turned toward Star.

"Star… zhere was zumt'ing bad zhat happened here."

"And… what about my parents?"

Buff Frig looked at her solemnly. "Star, I sorry. Zhey didn't make it. Zhey were crush under stone. Castle stone."

Tears formed in Star's eyes, and she could barely get out "Thank you, Buff Frog." She turned around and cut a portal back to what was now her only home.

As Star was looking back to close the portal, she was nearly knocked down by large force. When she regained her balance, she realized that it was Marco. His strong arms were around her. But as she looked up, she saw tears in his eyes. That wasn't right. _She_ should be the one crying. Why did Marco even care? But he did, and it made her feel so good. No one had ever cared for her problems before; they only cared about her mistakes. But Marco cared about _her_ , with all her mistakes and faults.

"Star…" Marco whispered, "I love you. As a family member…" he saw Star's shoulders slump. Marco smirked, saying "or a girlfriend."

Star looked into Marco's eyes. Even though their vision was blurred by tears, they saw clearly. Star smiled, stepping back. "So you admit."

"Yeah. That whole thing with Jackie… well, I guess she was kind of like a cover. I didn't think you liked me. And with all my insecurity and stuff-remember the tally I kept-I just didn't have the guts. But when I saw you like this, I realized that when people really love each other, they don't hide their weaknesses from each other: they complement each other and help each other through them. And with Jackie, I wasn't myself. I was always trying to be perfect and cover up my mistakes. I realized that I should feel like myself with the people close to me. With you I feel like I can show you the deepest parts of me and we'll be all the better for it."

Star had a big smile on her face, but she raised an eyebrow. "Did you script this?"

Marco scratched the back of his head. "Um… yeah."

They both laughed for a while.

When it died down, Star said sincerely, "Thank you, Marco."

"And thank you, Star."


	3. Regret

"Star… remember the end-of-school-year party?"

Star's smile immediately fell into an angry frown. "Yes, I do."

"I know… you confessed and told me you had feelings for me…"

"You better get going in a good direction, Marco."

"Well, the thing is… I think I have feelings for you, too." Marco let out a held breath.

"Oh. Oh, that's where you're going with this." Star was not joyful but deadpan, with maybe a trace of dread in her voice.

"And I think it just took Jackie breaking up with me to realize that I don't want to be with anyone else but you." Marco reached out to touch a lock of Star's hair, but she slapped it away.

"You're too late, Marco. I've moved on. The wounds you left in me are finally scarred over, and I can't let you reopen them. I froze my heart to you to protect myself. I never wanted to feel that pain again."

"I never left wounds in you."  
"Didn't you Marco? How about pretending I didn't exist for three weeks straight?"  
"I never did that."

"Accepting Jackie's request to go with the dance with her after you had just said you would go with me? Locking yourself in your room while you talked to Jackie for hours while I pounded on the door and pleaded to come in? Inviting Jackie over and telling me to stay upstairs so you couldn't see me? Even refusing to sit with me at lunch? You made me feel worthless. You let that sit with me for weeks while we were separate. And now here you are, telling me the opposite. How am I supposed to believe you? Actions speak louder than words, Marco, and your actions in the last few weeks lead me to believe that all your allegiance lies with Jackie."

"Star, I think you're going too far with this."  
"Tell me you don't still love Jackie."

"I… I don't.'

He hadn't noticed that Star had zapped up a polygraph. The holographic screen, in big words, said "LIE."

Star, visibly angered, stomped toward Marco, making him back away. "Jackie was your girlfriend, but now that she dumped you, you're just moving down one in the hierarchy. I'll never be your number one because Jackie will always be there, won't she? You'd immediately dump me if Jackie became available again, wouldn't you? Jackie will always be between us, and you know it!"  
"Jackie said the same thing to me when we broke up, that YOU would always be my number one, that SHE would always be number two."

"Well then maybe you should make up your mind instead of playing with our emotions until you can decide. I was ready to go to the end of the world for you, but you had someone else to chase. And it hurt, but it wasn't your fault. But now you come back and say, 'I guess you're good enough. Now dedicate yourself to me even though I'm not dedicated to you'! And I will never do that to anyone, which is why I dedicated myself to the person who DID dedicate himself to me. The one that would go to the end of the world for me."  
"Star, you're not making any sense!"  
"Then how about this: I moved on from you, and I'm never going back."

Marco was speechless.

As Star stormed of, Marco managed out a whisper just loud enough to hear: "Star?"

"Yes, Marco?" Her voice was so cold. He had never heard that coldness before, even when she was talking to monsters, her enemies.

"Does this mean we're no longer friends?"

"Maybe."

She stormed away for good now.


	4. Heartbreak

**I told you I wouldn't respond to reviews here. I lied. I will respond to GUEST reviews here only, since I can't PM them. Another thing about all reviews: NO CURSING! If you curse in your review, I WILL remove or report it. I don't want little kids coming on this story (keep in mind that it IS rated K+) and finding cursing on the review page. Go curse over on the M-rated stories but not on any of mine! All right, now that that's over with:  
**

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 _ **This takes place at the end of Starcrushed, but Star doesn't have to go back to Mewni.**_

"I _do_ have a crush on you, Marco."

No one gasped because it wasn't a surprise. They all stared at Marco to see his reaction. Marco's cheeks became red and his eyes darted toward Jackie. "Ummmm…"

"That's what I thought!" Star, teary-eyed, ran up the stairs into her room.

Marco stood there awkwardly. He was unsure whether to go after Star or not. He didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with Jackie, but he also didn't want to jeopardize his friendship with Star.

Jackie, staring at him, said, "You should probably go after her."

Jackie's consent was all he needed. He rushed up the stairs and threw open Star's door. By now, his protective side was taking over. He saw Star curled up in her bed, sobbing. The hearts on her cheeks were broken down the middle. And there was an eerie feeling about her. The wand on her dresser glowed an awful color. Marco sat on her bed. It took all the will in him to let Star cry. He knew she needed to get her emotions out. So he sat there until the tears started to dry.

Finally, Star looked up at him. Forgetting herself, she flung her arms around Marco. Marco squeezed her back. It was a blissful moment until Star remembered why she was crying. "I'm sorry, Marco! I couldn't keep it in! I'm so selfish! I can't even be happy for you because every time I see you together, all I can think of is myself and the green magic takes over me! I get awful thoughts, Marco. You don't want to know what they are."

"Hey, hey, Star… I know you would never hurt me."

"But I think I would!"  
"No, Star. I trust you."

"I don't deserve that trust."

Marco smiled. "You're a strong girl, Star. You can overcome anything. You would go the the end of the universe for me, and I for you. We would never, ever hurt each other even if it meant our own death. And that's because we love each other."

A hopeful smile appeared on Star's face. "Does that mean that you feel the same about me?"  
Oh, shoot. What had Marco just gotten into? He had chosen his words wrong, and now he had to deal with it. "Well, what I mean is that we're such good friends, and we're so close."

Star's face fell. "Just friends. I get it."

It pained Marco so much to see Star this way. She was normally so happy. What had he done to make her feel this way?

Suddenly, Star started to bawl all over again. Weakly, she pleaded, "So… much… hurt…. Marco… make… the hurt… stop…. Please."

Marco knew there was only one way to make it stop. Leave Jackie, be with Star. He was taken back to when he had been kidnapped. Star had given up one of the things most dear to her to save him-her wand. If she could do that, then shouldn't Marco be able to give up one of the things dearest to him-Jackie? But every time he thought to do it, he couldn't. Because to help Star, he would have to hurt Jackie just as badly. But he had to make it stop, somehow, even if it was with lies.

"Hey, Star…"

Star, teary-eyed, looked up at him. The passion and hope that Star always had was still behind her eyes. It was that passion that Marco would do anything to keep.

"The thing is… I don't really know where I stand with Jackie anymore. I've known her my whole life, but… I feel like I know you even better. And I feel like me and Jackie isn't something that will last. Just a high-school dream crush. But in a real relationship, you should really love each other, and if I said that I loved Jackie… I don't know, it just feels weird to say. But with you… I didn't even mean to say it and it just came out! For a long time now, I knew I loved you, and I'm just now realizing that I love you as something maybe more than a friend."

And as it all tumbled out, he realized that-Oh, _Dios_ -it was true. Every word of it.

Unbeknownst to them, Jackie had been watching them from the doorway. Sighing, she'd turned and walked away. She didn't know where she was going, but she trusted her legs to lead her to the right place. She wasn even looking, in fact. Rather, she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. She put it away and kept walking. She finally stopped, feeling her shoes sinking into soft sand. She took them off, letting the sand soothe her bare feet. She walked out to the shoreline and just past it, letting her feet sit in an inch or two of water. As it ebbed, her feet were dry, then as the wave came in again it wet them. This produced a nice calming feeling in Jackie. She stood there, eyes closed, feeling the ocean breeze, the water lapping at her feet, and let the emotions drain out of her. When she was finally calm, she unclasped the seashell necklace that Marco had bought her for her eighth birthday and tossed it out into the water. The tide picked it up and slowly carried it away. This was not an action of anger, but a way to let go. _Go,_ Jackie thought, _find a new home. With someone who makes you happy._

Back at Marco's house, Marco's phone buzzed and the screen lit up. Star picked it up from Marco's dresser, reading the notification:

* * *

 **New Message:**

 **Jackie Lynn Thomas**

I know where your heart really is. Let's not kid ourselves any longer.

* * *

Star's hand started to shake. "No… no… Marco, this is all my fault!"  
Marco, trying to calm her, asked, "What is?"

Star showed him the screen, looking away from Marco's face so she couldn't see his pain. Marco's eyes stung, but Star bawled. It was really a wonder that Star hadn't yet run out of tears. "This is all I do, Marco, go around ruining your life. If I had just kept it in-"

"You know what, I'm glad you let it out."

Star rubbed her eyes. She gave him a confused look.

"I'm glad that I know the truth," Marco explained. "Because now I've found the truth inside me. I'm finally realizing that I'm not meant for Jackie-I'm meant for you. I love you with all my heart, and nothing could possibly change that."

He smiled at Star and looked into her eyes. For a long moment. Even though tears blurred their vision, they both saw more clearly than ever. And what they saw was each other.

Finally, after a long silence, they said in unison, "I love you." Giggling, they continued, "Hey! I said it first! Stop that!" They burst into laughter. Arms around each other, they cleansed the bad feelings out with laughter and bliss.

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 **A/N: Hopefully this one was a bit better than the others. Thank you robertkellett for some key suggestions!**


	5. Mourning

**Hey, guys! back with another story! You might have noticed that I have a pattern: odd numbers are anti-Starco and even are pro-Starco. This story follows the trend, but I promise I included some fluff that you'll enjoy! Starco feels to come! No reviews (as previously stated) so let's dive right in!**

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Tears in his eyes, Marco punched with every ounce of his strength. His fist made contact and punched straight through the lizard's flesh, leaving a good-sized hole in his body.

"She's… gone," Toffee's voice echoed in his head. No… she couldn't be gone! He couldn't have lost her again! He's lost her when she returned to Mewni, and it had been so painful then. Now he had lost her again… permanently.

Moon, behind him, started to scrounge for the tiny black particles of the wand, fitting them back into place. The action was in vain, though, as nothing came out of it. Tears piled in Moon's eyes, something that never happened since she became queen.

Marco replayed happy thoughts of him and Star together. They all turned bitter at the knowledge that they would never again come to pass. They would never again go to Quest Buy, never again battle monsters, never again have movie nights with Marco's nachos. There was no hope like when Star had left for Mewni. It was a certainty. Star was _never_ coming back.

A few seconds later crescent moon symbols began to glow on Marco's cheeks. "That's it," Moon remarked, "she's gone. Her magic is transferring to you through your bond." Moon found reprieve in drowning feeling in rationalization. After all, it's what she had done when her mother had passed.

So now Marco had these symbols on his face, daily reminders of Star's death.

And to be honest, he loved her. In that way. Now that it didn't matter anymore, he could admit it to himself. Marco just didn't know how he could make do without her.

His house guest,

His best friend,

His companion,

His crush

Was dead.

Dead.

Dead.

It took a long time to sink in. Marco simply couldn't imagine Star's body, always so happy and full of energy, limp and unmoving. It just didn't seem possible.

Marco returned to Earth and lived in a sort of daze. He didn't go to school and only came out of his room for meals. He slept at least fifteen hours every day. It was less painful when he was sleeping.

Something seemed to stir inside him the whole time, and sometimes random bursts of magic sprang from him. Nothing bad had come of it, though.

On the fourth day in this manner, Marco woke up to see someone in his room. He started at the sight, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. It couldn't be true, but it felt so incredibly _real_.

Star in some sort of golden Butterfly Form was floating in front of him.

He sat bolt upright and rushed out of bed. Star's eyes followed him, and she started to smile. Marco rushed over as fast as possibly, afraid she'd disappear, and reached out to touch her. His hand made contact.

It was the best feeling in the entire world. _She's here. She's here!_

"Hey, Marco," she said in a happy voice… but it was tinged with sadness.

Marco hugged her as tight as he possibly could. Having the six arms around him felt so amazing. Also… kinda weird, since it felt like three people hugging him at once. He pulled back after a long period. "Can you turn back to normal? I want to see your face again."

Star chewed her lip. "I can't, unfortunately."

Marco's face fell a bit. "This is alright, then. It's just… I barely even recognize you."

"Yeah. Look, I'm here for a reason, all right? And I only have until I wake up-"

"You're asleep?"

"Yeah, I'm sleep portalling. Took me a while to figure out how to become conscious while sleeping."

"All right, but… you're here now, so that's great!"

"Marco… I'm getting really tired and I need to tell you what the unicorns told me."

"O-okay."

"I know you love me, Marco. But… I'm dead. You have to move on from me. Do you feel the magic inside you? It could be used for the worst. Don't do this to yourself; you can't let your misery sit inside of you. That's what Eclipsa did when she found out she couldn't love the monster. And that got her encased in solid crystal. I just don't want you to hurt anyone you love."

Marco's face grew somber.

"I think you should go back to Jackie and tell her that… well there's no one in the way of your relationship now, and you should try to get back together. You can try to just… pretend that I never happened. You were fine before I came. Just go back to that."

"But Star, I wasn't fine before you came. I barely had friends, I was too scared to admit any feelings about my crush, and I was… much less happy before you came."

"Then think of those changes as my little blessings to you. You don't have to forget about me. Sometimes it's just easier to go through a familiar routine."

"Okay. I-I'll try."

Star got a conflicting look on her face. "The thing is, I want nothing more for myself but to bring you here with me. We both have magic, so we'll end up in the same place. But… I saw the pain my parents went through. And most of all, the pain you went through. I don't want more people to experience it. And I want you to have a good long life if you can. I can wait. I'm not going anywhere." Star managed a weak smile at Marco.

"Yeah. You're… you're right. Don't worry, Star, I'll take care of this magic thing. And I will see you again eventually." That sparked an idea. "Could you come back here again?"

"Maybe. I can't know for sure. It will take a while to charge up my magic. So yes, probably, but it might not be for decades. It'll only be days to me."

Marco nodded solemnly. Star yawned, and her eyes drooped. "We don't have much time left," she said.

"I love you, Star." Marco went in for a big hug, but Star had other ideas. Star caught his lips with hers and created a memory for Marco that he could hold onto in the worst of times.

The kiss was a surprise for Marco, and that was the best thing about it. Joy surged up through him in moments and his cheeks flushed with color again for the first time since Star had passed. The kiss was tender and slow. Even as Star faded away, it wasn't rushed. They just wanted to savor every last moment together.

Star's eyes had closed during the kiss, and she snapped them open as she pulled away, slightly sharpening the blurring edges of her figure. She gave a weak smile at Marco, then said one last thing before closing her eyes for the very last time.

"Remember me, Marco."

Marco didn't bother responding; she was already gone. _I could never forget you, Star, even if I tried. I'll remember you until the day we reunite. And until then, I'll trust other people to carry me through._

Marco suddenly woke up. It could have been a dream, or maybe that had really been Star. But it didn't really matter, did it? Because he was going to turn his life around and make Star proud.

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 **A/N: I have a pretty awesome idea for the next story (it will be pro-Starco!) It will be called "Quinceañera." Until then!**


	6. Quinceañera

**Well, what can I say? I'm really sorry, guys. Stuff has been kinda crazy where I live. So I've been out for a while, especially on this project. I also told Goldey9058 through PM that it would be out a week ago with about 2000 words. Well, here I am a week late with over 6000 words. That's an okay trade-off, right? So anyway, I just kind of kept getting ideas and ended up with my longest one-shot and second-longest chapter ever, rivaling only that massive second chapter of Introvert vs. Extravert. So that's why it's been a little delayed.**

 **This one follows the pattern of evens are Starco, and this one has some pretty heavy Starco. :) I wanted to experiment with first person shifting point of view, so that's something in here that you haven't seen before on this project.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 _ **Marco POV**_

Following Stump Day, Tom put on a birthday party for Star (no doubt only because I had fought with him about it, I was sure). It was held in the castle. Tom had organized a band of undead (I knew my mariachi band had been _much_ more to Star's liking) along with punch, deserts, the like. But he didn't even have a piñata. Marco had been looking forward to letting Star hit a piñata on her quinceañera, but that was just another one of the dreams Marco would never see fulfilled.

Like kissing Star.

Whoa, where… where had that come from?

Just… don't think about that. Like always. Just remember that Star's happy, and that's all that really matters. She couldn't know. She had so much on her plate, and if I told her it would just make everything worse. A lot worse. So it stayed under wraps.

Anyway, she seemed to be having fun right now. She was in a loose green dress that flowed to her feet—she looked beautiful, might I add, no I might _not_ add!—and she wandered around the party, dancing with Tom for a while, then chatting with some of the other royals. Something was bothering her, but she always looked like that now, ever since the whole monster party thing. She didn't once come near me. I was already upset from the fight with Tom the night before, and I wasn't very comfortable around all the royal servants, knights, and squires, so I just kind of setted in around the snack table and watched. I waited a while before, deciding to do something with myself, I wandered over toward some delicious-looking mini lava cakes. I reached my hand out to take one, but a hand grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"I'd be careful," came Star's voice.

I beamed when I saw her, but her expression was still… off. She took a lava cake and broke it in half over the trash can, and real boiling lava poured out!

" _Dios_ , Star, who was the genius with that idea?"  
"Tom." Star sighed, "This is what I have to deal with on a daily basis."

"Is that what's been bothering you?"  
Star sighed again. "He was kind of unhelpful at the monster thing. I just put so much work into it, and instead of helping or letting me get it all done, he just was trying to get me to have fun. And that's good, because he doesn't want me to be stressed. I try to appreciate it, but sometimes trying to make him happy just adds even more onto my plate-I'd stay away from the punch, too-" (I had been about to pour myself some punch, which I now saw was awfully viscous and blood red.) "For example, this party… well, it's great and all, but it's not really my type of party. I mean, this is like a wedding! I'm more for… y'know, like a birthday cake and a piñata. Having friends come… I mean, I don't even know half these people! I could honestly just go for nachos with you or something."

I smiled. "Well, why don't we?"

"But-"  
I just stood there, snapping my scissors open and closed. I smiled realizing that she was interrupted after saying that so often that she didn't even know what came after. "Whatever you want."

Star hesitated, finally settling upon a decision. "Thank you, Marco. It's my birthday, after all. Gotta take a break every once in a while."

I opened a portal and pulled her through. We landed in my living room. I sat her down, turned on the TV, and rushed off into the kitchen.

Moments later, I came back with a sprawling plate of my signature nachos.

"So tell me, what's going on?" I ask her.

"Well… it's about Tom."

"What about Tom?

"It's… complicated. Like, he's thoughtful in a put-me-first kind of way, just not thoughtful in an actual… well, _thinking_ way. For example, no, I can _not_ go on a date in the middle of a war; no, I do _not_ want to kiss you in the middle of a reconnaissance mission. I guess… he puts us before Mewni, and as a queen, I'll have to put Mewni first. It just… kinda doesn't add up."

"Maybe Tom just… doesn't understand that about you. I mean, I know how much monster rights mean to you, and _I'd_ never come in the way of that. Maybe Tom just needs to get to know you more. You're not the same girl who broke up with him however long ago it was. He's still trying to figure out the new you."

"But it goes both ways. I don't know everything about him that I thought I did. For example… well, I just recently found out he has a tail. How could possibly have not known that he has a tail?!"

"It seems like you just need to get to know each other better. Spend time together, et cetera, et cetera."

"That's what Tom thinks too. But, like I said, I really just can't put aside time to do things with him! Especially because the only time we're together to plan something, we're always on the run somehow."

"Well…" I paused, trying to think of what to say. "Maybe… you're just not ready for a boyfriend at the moment."

Star looked uneasy. "Y-you're saying to… break up with him?"  
"No. Just… you know, tell him you need some time to take care of problems on Mewni, and until things calm down, you want to just be friends for a while. Then you can get back together and have a more enjoyable time with him."

"That sound good I guess. But just… uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh." Her head dropped into her hands.

I put an arm around her. "You can tell me, whatever it is."

"I know, Marco. Thanks." She took a deep breath before starting. When she began, she spoke slowly and quietly. "There was a reason that I broke up with Tom. I felt like… I just felt like it wasn't working. And I sort of feel like that now. He's changed, he's not a jerk anymore… but he's still Tom. And when I look to the future-living with him, ruling all of Mewni with him-I have concerns. It would be great to have friendly relations between Mewni and the Underworld. But ruling _together_? For one, we're both the only heir to different thrones. I couldn't possibly abandon Mewni, and Tom would have to take care of the Underworld. And I think Tom is more suited to rule the Underworld, anyway. If _I_ set the kingdom on fire, I can't imagine what would happen with Tom! I need someone who offsets me and provides a voice of reason, not someone who eggs me on. Like my mom. But by the time I become Queen, she'll probably be… well, gone. I'm just not sure Tom could provide much guidance.

"At the same time, I think Tom's a really good guy, and it would kinda crush him if I mentioned it. And I don't want to do that to him. He would never see it coming. Well, I guess that's nothing new." Star paused for a while, pondering her thoughts silently.

"Explain?" Marco prompted.

Star sighed again. "I guess it's not his problem, because it seems to be _everyone_. Just… everyone _always_ underestimates me. And he does too. I'm just kind of tired of it. No one thinks I can do anything on my own. How am I supposed to rule a kingdom on my own in the future if everyone keeps constantly looking over my shoulder?"

"It must be tough. But you don't have to rule alone. Even Moon isn't alone—well, River isn't much help, but I'd gladly stand by you and help guide you. And I wouldn't underestimate you."

Star groaned. "Marco, you're not being subtle about it. We both know that we'd have to marry for you to rule with me!"

"Uh, well I… um…"

 _ **Star POV**_

There was an awkward silence, high with tension. On the TV, which had been mostly forgotten about, a character screamed melodramatically in agony. My eye twitched, and, restraining myself from lashing out, I smashed the OFF button on the remote.

See, I've suspected since Marco came back that he might have feelings for me. And while I've gotten better at facing my physical problems, I've honestly gotten nowhere with my emotional problems. So I ignored that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that Marco had a crush on me.

But if he had a crush on me, then why did he just stare at me when I confessed to him? I had told myself that it wasn't his fault for keeping quiet instead of lying, but he _wasn't_ lying! He _did_ like be back, and he still crushed my heart anyway! I ran to Tom to make myself feel better and help myself move on from Marco.

And now, here he is, saying he loved me all along, and I was put through all that pain for nothing. All he had to do was say that he felt the same. What was so hard about that that he broke my heart instead?

Voices battled in my head.

The first voice spoke: _You moved on from him! You don't need him anymore! You don't owe him anything; he crushed your heart._

The second argued: _Isn't this what you want? What you've wanted all along? You know that Marco is better for you than Tom! What's stopping you from having him?_

A third voice emerged, the voice of reason I immediately clung to once I heard it: _When you confessed, Marco said nothing, and it crushed you. Now Marco's confessing to you. Be the better person here._

"Okay," I started, "you know I had a crush on you, and it's not gone. But I do have a boyfriend, so this is kind of awkward. But… I think… I think I'd rather have you ruling by my side. I just don't know how to make it happen."

"Well, we can work through that together. But for right now, I'm ready to take what I've got."

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. Some part of my brain, the responsible princess part, registered that this was wrong, but really, we'd done it so many times before that it just felt natural and… right. At the same time, I picked up on the fact that Marco's hugs were more comforting than anyone else's. The rebel princess that I used to be known so well for broke free for a moment, and I hugged him as hard as I could.

But really, platonic friends hugged each other all the time, right?

So there was absolutely nothing wrong with what I was doing.

Then I realized that I had dropped my arms and was laying my head on Marco's shoulder.

Nononononononono. I was doing it again. I was crushing on Marco. I couldn't deny it anymore. I had to stop doing.

I remembered the Love Sentence concert. I remembered the school dance, which I had skipped to try to resurrect Bon Bon the Birthday Clown. Using the all-seeing eye spell. Spying leads to crying. Calling Marco. Getting the book of spells taken. Marco more concerned about Jackie than me, when I was about to be pulled into the Void and go insane! Wearing his hoodie. Having to say goodbye.

But then I remembered our first battle together against Ludo. Our hug after I lost my wand. The Blood Moon Ball. Every time Marco had made made nachos for us when watching a movie together curled up on the couch.

And I wondered, am I really Marco's second best like I thought? Or was his relationship with Jackie the same as mine with Tom? Where everything's just confusing, and you don't know your feelings, so you just stick with what people are telling you to do. After all, I didn't exactly discourage Marco's relationship. By trying to make him happy, I pushed him farther into a relationship with Jackie. And maybe… she wasn't really his principal love interest, but everything was so muddled that he didn't know who he liked anymore, just that he had been crushing on Jackie for a long time.

I know what you're thinking. Who pushed me?

Well… you know how Eclipsa was punished for falling in love with a monster? It's not just monsters that were not supposed to marry.

Under guidelines, if strictly enforced, princesses had to marry Mewnian royalty (the dimension Mewni, not the kingdom), meaning the Johansens, Lucitors, Spiderbites, and even the chickens, technically, were fair game.

It wasn't unprecedented to marry a peasant, though. If the parents are loose on the rules, then a peasant marriage could be arranged. And I'm pretty sure that my parents would let me.

But Marco's a human. From another dimension. His taking the throne might not be met very well by the citizens.

But did that matter? If I was trying to integrate monsters into society, then why not humans? I had defied the rules set upon me before.

But that felt… like a different Star almost, a different person altogether. Star the Rebel was no more; Star the Queen was here to stay.

But Star the Rebel had been so much happier than I was now. And Star the Rebel had had Marco.

But could Star the Rebel run a kingdom? Probably not. But maybe I could find a balance between the two: Star the Rebel Queen. Now that had a nice ring to it.

But…

Wait. I've been saying "but" way too often.

Then I realized that I had been silent for much too long. Marco was just savoring the moment, I could tell, but he was even beginning to look a bit awkward. When I looked up at his face, I saw it in a completely new light.

He was cute.

Really cute.

And handsome.

And heroic.

And brave.

And a good friend.

And always there for me when I needed him most.

And utterly lovable.

Then I noticed how our faces, our lips, were millimeters apart. My heart hammered in my chest, but as I looked into his eyes, I told myself, _no, not here, not now_. Then suddenly my elbows gave and my lips crashed into his. Most people close their eyes when they kiss, but both mine and Marco's flew open wide. We stayed there for just a moment, which seemed to be the longest moment ever, until I hurriedly pulled back. One thought pounded in my head as I stared down at Marco in surprise: _How had that happened?_

My answer came in the form of a shout from atop my back: "GLOBGLOR!"

Then it all came together. Glossaryck had somehow gotten here—the way he did it, I didn't want to think about right now—and he had jumped onto my back and made me fall onto Marco. That… wasn't my fault, right? But one thing still nagged at me in the back of my head—

"You didn't pull back as quickly as I thought you would," Marco said with a confused and slightly accusatory—confusatory!—look.

Yeah, that was the thing that bothered me. "Look, Marco," I said, "I… well, I have something to say to Tom."

Marco tried to hide a grin, but I saw it. I gave him the confusatory look.

* * *

 _ **Marco POV**_

Star. And. I. Just. Kissed. Part of me felt guilty, but it wasn't my fault anyway; I had just been laying there. And… well, you could say that I liked it. Although I would never admit that.

I knew that the culprit had been Glossaryck, leaping onto Star's back and making her fall onto me. But… Star hadn't pulled away immediately like most people would after kissing someone who wasn't their partner. She had hesitated, if only for a brief moment, before pulling back. I was sure of it.

Did that mean she enjoyed it? Was it simply that Glossaryck kept her from getting up? Or another reason?

I asked.

She said she had something to say to Tom. I knew it was probably one of two things: 1) telling Tom about the accidental kiss and assuring him that she had no interest in me, or 2) break up with him. I wasn't sure which one was best. I wanted the latter for myself, but I didn't want Star to go through a breakup, especially if she didn't truly have feelings for me.

But maybe she did.

And really, she had just confessed to me that she did, and I don't think she lied. There had to be something there.

But maybe not. Maybe the feelings went away when she realized she was happier with Tom.

But I still didn't get something about him: how did he and Star break up?

The question plagued me. Although I knew that Tom had changed, Star broke up with him for a reason that she clearly felt strongly about, and I sometimes wondered if that reason was still a part of Tom, and if that reason would end up hurting her again. I was probably being overprotective, but I didn't want Star getting hurt the same as before.

"How… did you break up?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"No, what did you say?

"How did you and Tom break up?"

Star gulped. She paused, then said, "Like I said, we just didn't really click, so I called it quits. I thought maybe because we had both changed, we might click better this time."

I was skeptical, but I wasn't going to push her.

* * *

 _ **Star POV**_

Yes, I lied to Marco. I shouldn't have. But I had to. Tom's and my breakup was a secret I had kept for over a year now. And I especially couldn't tell Marco. He might think less of me. But you're from the nonfiction-verse aren't you? You wouldn't be able to tell anyone from here. Okay, I'll tell you.

I was trying to get Tom to come with me to the very heart of the Forest of Certain Death to get those delicious sandwiches.

We managed to get one sandwich before the monster started running after us.

And Tom was like, "I think it'll stop chasing us if we give it the sandwich back!"

And I was like, "No way! They will never take our sandwiches away from us! We have to be strong and not surrender!"

Then Tom said, "Do you really think this sandwich is worth my life?"

I guess it was supposed to be rhetorical, but I said "Yeah! They're that good!"

Then we jumped through a dimensional portal and landed in Tom's room in the Underworld.

"Seriously, take a bite," I said.

Then I looked up at him, and his three eyes were red. Flames grew around his body. He was mad. And when he gets mad, he gets _mad_.

So we got into a huge argument. And… well, Tom broke up with me.

I felt really bad. What kind of person was I to cause the end of our relationship over a sandwich?

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt like I didn't deserve him. So I kind of moved on from him.

When he came back to me, days before my fourteenth birthday, and said he wanted to get back together, I just kinda avoided responding. Then I got sent to Earth and didn't see him in person again until the Blood Moon Ball.

And by then I was kinda alright with it, like, let's just see how this goes.

And it went pretty okay until Marco crashed the ball and everything.

Then Tom kinda went on torturing Marco and stuff, and that wasn't very cool of him, but they've forgiven each other.

And then before I left for Mewni, I felt kinda rejected by Marco, especially when he didn't once bring it up during the Battle for Mewni. So I felt kinda rejected and alone, and when I danced with Tom, I was kinda like, alright, maybe I can try again with Tom. And in truth, he made the rejection and loneliness dissipate.

And we've been a thing ever since.

So I caused my boyfriend to break up with me and refused to get back with him, only doing so eventually to cover up my feeling of rejection.

You see why I didn't want to tell Marco?

But yeah, our relationship has been super messy.

Back in present day, we were going through a portal back to my birthday party in Mewni Castle.

Tom saw us almost immediately after the portal closed. "Hey, Star, Marco! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where were you?"

"Look, Tom, there's something I gotta tell you." No, no, no, I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. "Marco… uh… ate one of the lava cakes, and I was making sure he was okay. Just a little magic, and _poof!_ he felt fine. But we should probably put up, like, a sign, so it doesn't happen again."

"Yeah, sure, I'll go do that."

"Thanks."

As I looked back at Marco, he gave me the confusatory look. "That's it? That's what you wanted to tell him?"

Star dropped her face into her hands and groaned, "No."

"Just… tell him that this was all an accident… and that you don't want to do it again."

"O-okay."

"You can do this."

"I can do this."

Star hugged me then went over to find Tom. She found him by the lava cake table, straightening a sign that read: CAUTION: EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK. It wasn't the most specific sign, but it would probably do its job to deter unsuspecting mortals.

Just then I started thinking about something. How she seemed a lot more confident once someone had told her what to do and she agreed with it. And maybe that's why Glossaryck always spoke in riddles to her. Because if he told her outright then she'd never be able to make her own decision about it. And more recently, her decisions were usually good ones if she had some guidance. Maybe I shouldn't have told her outright what to do. But I felt some sort of resolve that Star would be able to make things work out. I trusted her to make it work.

I heard her start talking to Tom. "Tom," she said, "I need to talk about something important with you. Well… I've had such a great time with you since I came back to Mewni, and I'm really glad we made up. You've been an awesome boyfriend to me, and I've enjoyed being with you. But at some point I have to remind myself that… well—" she looked at me "—our whole second relationship was… kind of an accident. I just felt rejected and alone because Marco left me hanging, and I ended up with you to fill the hole in my heart. I've been _using_ you to cover up my hurt, and I don't want to use you anymore."

Nononono. That wasn't what I had meant to tell her! I rushed over. Wait, Star, I didn't mean—"

"Marco, I'm trying to talk to Tom about something important."

"But Star—"

"I'm sorry, but it's really important. So, could you wait to tell me until I'm done with Tom?"

"Wait, no—"

Then came Tom's voice: "Dude, let her talk to me. It's kind of a big thing."

I suddenly found myself in a sort of bubble. I pounded on the walls, but I couldn't get out. "Hey!" I shouted, but they didn't even hear me. I could hear them, though.

"Anyway… where were we?" Star continued. "Oh, yeah. I just don't feel like I'm being fair to you. I just want to nip this problem in the bud before it gets worse and ends up breaking up on less friendly terms like last time. I feel like… there was a reason we broke up last time, and were simply not fated to be together. Our last breakup was nasty, and I don't want to do that again. So I think, before things get bad between us again, we should just settle on being friends. That way we can have a more lasting bond."

Tom looked kind of bummed but like he'd expected it. "I knew this would happen eventually. We've broken up, which I think was really more of a mutual breakup. You've moved on from me. I could tell that you came to me because you felt rejected. I was just enjoying it while it lasted, taking what I could get. But the reality is, and I've thought a long time about this, we'll each have our own kingdoms to run eventually; we're both the only heirs to our respective thrones. Our friendship would better our relations, but if we were married, well, we'd be one couple running two kingdoms. Which I'm totally down for, by the way, but you seem pretty stressed out just being the princess of one kingdom, much less the Queen of two.

"And what I'm realizing now is that all I really want is for us to be together, and that doesn't have to mean romance. So even though you just friendzoned me, I'm okay with that. As long as I can be by your side."

Star smiled. "Definitely. Corn shakes tomorrow?"

Tom grinned. "Yeah."

They smiled at each other awkwardly until Star bumped into my bubble. "Oh yeah, and free Marco."

The bubble around me disappeared. Immediately, I grasped Star and said, "Staaaar, that's not what I meant!"

Star shrugged. "I guess I interpreted it the way I wanted to."

"Hey, Star, can I show you something?" Tom interrupted.

Star turned to me. "I've spent most of the party with you, but Tom was the one who threw it, and I feel kind of bad for ditching him. Plus there's some things we need to talk through. I'll catch you later, all right?" The disappointment must've showed on my face, because she added, "I promise."

"O-okay."

Star turned back to Tom. "Yeah, let's go!"

As they walked away, I caught snippets of their conversation:

"What was that cool spell?"

"Oh, just something my dad showed me. It's really useful when you get rowdy undead."

"Like who?"

"Well, there was this one dead Johansen that…"

I sighed. Had I gotten my hopes up for nothing? Were things just going to continue the same except without the kissing? Was she still going to spend all of her time with him and not me? Worse, maybe our accidental kiss had scared her off, and now she just felt awkward around me.

I spent the end of the party much the same way as I spent it's beginning. The only difference was that I now avoided the lava cakes like the plague and warded off unsuspecting partygoers.

I eventually sat on the corner of the table and pulled out my phone. I couldn't do much with it on Mewni since I got no reception and no Wifi or cellular. So I'm found myself scrolling through my texts with Star. There was nothing since May 28, the day school got out and the day Star had left. Those texts read:

* * *

8:46 PM

 **Star  
** Hey, Marco, I decided to go up to the Stop & Slurp and hang out at Oskar's party. See ya! :)

8:57 PM

 **Star  
** Marco?

Hello?

9:17 PM

 **Star  
** Nvm don't worry about me I'll be fine on my own. You just have fun with your gf.

 **Me  
** Ok have fun! I'll just be hanging out with Jackie if you need me.

9:31 PM

 **Star  
** Marco?

I feel lonely.

Marco?

* * *

That was it. I had never responded. I remembered feeling the buzz in my pocket and ignoring it. I had been in the middle of something with Jackie, although what it was didn't seem important anymore. Even though I knew it wouldn't send, I typed out and sent:

 _Not delivered!  
_ **Me  
** If you feel lonely again, just come to me and I promise I'll be there this time.

Then I sat back and sighed. I had ignored her when I was with Jackie. I had no right to be upset when she ignored me with Tom.

But again… when I broke up with Jackie—or, rather, when she broke up with me—I came to her. And maybe she'd come to me, too. It was a small ray of hope.

Suddenly I was knocked off the table. My phone clattered across the floor as I fell. It skidded to a stop just in time to be tread over by a creature that must've weighed at least 300 pounds.

"Sorry, didn't see ya there, Marco." I turned around to see it was Tom. He had levitated the table and caused me to fall.

"Yeah, that's all right," I called back distractedly, picking up my phone and surveying the damage. It was about half its original thickness, the screen was shattered, sand it wasn't turning on.

I sighed but realized something. I didn't need my phone to tell Star what I had tried to text her. I could always have cut a portal home and sent it. But no. I had to just tell her. My feet walked themselves out of the ballroom and toward Star's room, where I figured she must be since I didn't see her cleaning up.

About halfway there, I almost walked straight into her, out faces inches from bumbing, which reminded me of back in the living room—no, none of that now!

"Marco!" Star exclaimed, "I've been looking for you!" She took my hand and dragged me through hallways, I think toward her bedroom, but she was going so fast that I lost where we were going. We eventually did end up in her room. She sat on her bed, and I followed suit.

"Sooooo," Star began awkwardly, looking around the room and settling on the ruined phone in my hand. "Hey, what happened to your phone?"

"Stepped on."

Star cringed. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's all right. Nothing $650 dollars can't fix!"

"Yeah," Star said distractedly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

I knew she had something she wanted to say, so I waited. And waited. "What is it?" I finally said.

"Well, I'm sorry I kind of ignored you after we got back. Just… I kinda dropped a bomb on Tom, and I wanted to make sure was okay with everything, and I didn't just want to ditch him completely. But now I have time to spend with you, and I've been looking forward to it all night."

"Well… what were you planning on doing?"

"I don't know, just hang out, figure out how we just got into a relationship…"

"Wait, we're in a relationship?"

"Marco, why do you think I broke up with Tom?"

"I thought it just wasn't working."

"It wasn't working because I loved someone else."

Silence.

"Yeah, I love you, Marco. I stand by what I said at the end-of-school party."

That reminded me of the texts I had just read. "Sorry, Star, I was… a jerk for ignoring you like that."

"I've acted like a jerk to you, too. But…." She smirked. "Ahem. Star, Ph.D. Marco, you are awesome. We don't need to get caught up in who does what to who. All that matters is that we have each other's back."

I smiled at the reference to back when I had pretended to be "Dr. Marco" to try to help Star with her sleep-spelling. "Well, I've got your back if you've got mine."

"One foot in front of the other."

"Huh?"

"It's one of your Earth songs. You don't remember it?"

"No."

"All right, scoot over."

I shifted away from her, but she wrapped her arm around me. "Closer, silly."

"Oh, all right."

Star magically extended a pair of headphones and put them over both our heads, the left headphone resting on her left ear and the right one on my right ear, smooshing our faces together. I began to recognize the song as it played, _One Foot_ by Walk the Moon:

 _Oh-ohhhhh, through the wilderness  
How come even together there can be loneliness?  
_ _Oh-ohhhhh, my heart is a mess  
_ _Is it the only defense against the wilderness?_

 _Cross my heart and hope to die  
Taking this one step at a time  
Got your back if you got mine  
_ _Oh-oh-oh!  
_ _One foot in front of the other  
_ _Ooh-ooh-ooh  
_ _One foot in front of the other  
_ _Ooh-ooh-ooh  
_ _One foot in front of the other._

Techno music followed the chorus, and Star commented, "This is my favorite part!"

"Without the words?"

"Yeah, we don't have music like that here. It sounds cool."

Then the second verse began:

 _Not a soul on the road, not a star in the sky  
It's a desert in my heart, and I know where to hide  
I'm your king of nothing at all  
And you're my queen of nothing at all  
Well, out here in the dust if you don't have trust  
Ain't nothing left of us, this is the exodus  
They're just testing us, they can't flex with us  
They can't mess with us, they can't mess with us. _

The chorus repeated, and I looked to Star as she listened to music. She just seemed so _happy_ sitting here and listening to music with me. It was awesome seeing her like that, like for a moment she didn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she was back to that excitable, carefree girl that showed up on Earth over a year ago.

I put my arm around her, and she put her arm around me while we listened to the rest of the song.

 _Don't you know, all we have is each other  
One foot in front of the other!_

As the song ended, Star took off the headphones, set them down, and looked up at me. "So… about the kiss earlier…"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I wasn't ready for it, you weren't ready for it. I was more freaked out than anything. I don't want us to remember that as our first kiss. So, you wanna do a do-over?"

"Um, sure?"

Star wrapped her arms around me, approached my lips with hers, then hesitated, looking into my eyes. I nodded reassuringly, and we both closed the gap between us.

When we pulled away from each other, Star's eyes were wide and tearing with emotion, but a smile lit up her face. She let out a nervous laugh, and I laughed back, and then we were on the bed, laying down on our backs and laughing loudly.

Soon it was past ten-thirty. "Goodnight, Star," I said, getting ready to leave.

"Goodnight, my squire," Star said before covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, I just realized how… patronizing that must sound. Sorry."

"It's… okay."

"Hey," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "You're my best friend, and now my boyfriend. But you were never a lowly servant, okay?"

"Okay." That actually made me feel a lot better. I hadn't realized how much that had been weighing on my mind. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I left, turned a few corners, and flopped down on my bed. What a day.

Just before I dozed off, I noticed something. Sometimes the moon would turn into a crescent of red, but now it was a full red moon watching over the kingdom.

* * *

 **End notes: The next one-shot will probably be titled "King" and will be dealing with Marco. I don't know when I'll get around to it. For now I'll go off of my profile and say June-ish.**


End file.
